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Report for March 2019 Global Water Partnership Central Asia and Caucasus (GWP CACENA) Report For March 2019 www.gwp.org GWP Central Asia and Caucasus (GWP CACENA) c/o ICARDA-CAC (GWP CACENA/IWMI), Apt 123, Block 6, Osiyo str, Tashkent, 100000, Uzbekistan Tel: +998 712 652 555, Fax: +998 711 665 097 Website: www.gwp.org 1. PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS IN GAVAR AND HRAZDAN MARZPETARANS The “European Union Water Initiative Plus for the Eastern Partnership” (EUWI+) project, gathered together the experts and water stakeholders, as established by the European water framework directive, to seek their views on the future for waters in the Sevan Lake and Hrazdan River basins on March 19 and 21, 2019. The meetings took place in Hrazdan on March 19, 2019 in Kotayk marzpetaran (Hrazdan t.) and on March 21, 2019, in Gegharqunik marzpetaran (Gavar t.). In the frames of the EUWI+ project, together with the Ministry of Nature Protection of the Republic of Armenia, the process of the development of the Sevan Lake and Hrazdan River basin plans has been started. The plan describes the environmental objectives for the river and the measures to achieve them. These first consultation fora - gathering 50 local stakeholders including in particular governmental authorities, basin organisations, residential and business water users, the scientific community, NGOs, journalists and experts – were seeking their views on the main challenges to guarantee the water quality, to share the water resource, to secure the drinking water, to reduce pollutions and to preserve people’s health. These one day meetings gave the opportunity to the participants to give their critically assess on the progress of river basin plans, identify consensus and the main challenges for the respective river basins. This dialogue is very important and the results will be taken in account for the next steps of the development of the river basin plans in order to define objectives, measures and actions to achieve them. These stakeholder meetings are part a broader process of public consultation of local state and non-state actors which lasted from 12 March to 12 April, 2019, where different expertise perspectives, opinions and information will be gathered to enrich the development of the river basin plan and its program of measures. A short questionnaire and documents available on websites • http://mnp.am • http://www.euwipluseast.eu > Armenia > Public Consultation A second phase of consultation will be organised on the draft river basin management plan in 2020. Context: Launched in September 2016 for a duration of four years, the EUWI+ project is the biggest commitment of the EU to the water sector in the EaP countries. It supports the six partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) to align their legislation with EU policy on water management, with a focus on transboundary rivers. It provides support to the development of a long-term vision of water sector reforms in the Partner Countries. The project is implemented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and an EU Consortium comprising the Austrian Environment Agency (Austria) and the International Office for Water (France). 2. WORLD WATER DAY IN ASHTARAK COMMUNITY Within the framework of EUWI+ “Communication assistance to support the implementation of the action plan for participation RBM Planning in Armenia” project “Country Water Partnership” scientific, ecological NGO (CWP Armenia) implemented information campaign dedicated to World Water Day 2019 “Leaving no one behind” in Ashtarak basic school N 1 named after Nerses Ashtaraketsi. The objective of the information campaign was to increase awareness, change attitudes and shape culture on human rights to water among schoolchildren. Since March 11, 2019 CWP Armenia had launched an information campaign in Ashtarak basic school N 1. During the campaign the schoolchildren were involved in discussions on efficient water basin management, water as a human right, importance of the Kassagh river and its problems. On 22 March, the event (open lesson) on WWD in Ashtarak N 1 school was organized. Representatives of Aragatsotn Marzpetaran and Ashtarak Municipality took part in the event. Representatives of CWP Armenia presented the importance of World Water Day and the meaning of its theme “Leaving no one behind” which aims to allow all people in all countries to benefit from socio-economic development and to achieve the full realisation of human rights, without discrimination on the basis of gender, age, race, language, religion, political (or other) opinions, national or social origin, property, disability, residency status (including citizenship, residency, immigration, refugee, statelessness, etc.) or any other social, economic or political status. During the event schoolchildren represented the importance of Kasagh river for Ashtarak community and the role of water from different groups’ viewpoint (“Water for all women”, “Water for all children”, “Water for all rural people”) and they suggested some ideas how to protect Kasagh river. They represented their ideas in different ways: songs, case studies, poetry and etc. At the end of the event eco-bags with Project logos and other little gifts were given to the students for active participation in the event. 3. WORLD WATER DAY (PURE WATER Project) The USAID-funded PURE-Water Project and 12 partner communities, in collaboration with “Coca-Cola Hellenic Armenia” company celebrated the World Water Day in Vedi municipality hall on March 25, this year. The event aimed at increasing public awareness on efficient management of Ararat Valley water resources, through highlighting the importance of community residents’ engagement in the protection of their water resources. The event was attended by the USAID Sustainable Development Office Director Lyla Andrews Bashan, who highlighted PURE Water Project contribution in the water resources management field, aimed at increasing civic engagement in the partner communities. During the event, the Pure-water team presented the overview of the World Water Day, as well as the practical skills acquired by the communities’ teachers, active groups during the earlier conducted “Drinking Water disinfection” seminars. The event also marked the official ceremony of distributing the drinking water chlorine identification tool kits to the project target communities’ schools, with the help of which the Project had implemented the mentioned seminars. The teachers of Ararat and Armavir marzes who were actively involved in the seminars in their turn shared their experiences as well as presented the sampling results. 4. Textbook on IWRM A textbook “Integrated Water Resources Management, Water Resources Use and Protection” was prepared and submitted to the publisher for publication. CWP-Azerbaijan Chairman Mammed Asadov is one of the authors of this manual. The manual can be used by teachers and students of the Baku State University and the Azerbaijan Architectural and Construction University, as well as specialists from research and design institutes and other organizations. 5. Conference "Water Policy in Georgia" Date: 22 March 2019 Place: Tbilisi, Georgia Organizers: CWP-Georgia, the Greens Movement of Georgia/Friends of the Earth Georgia, the Sweden Alumni Network Georgia Participants: Deputy Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, water managers, Chairman of the National Commission on Energy and Water Supply, NGOs, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, private companies, international organizations (Total: 40 people). Country Water Partnership Georgia in cooperation with the Greens Movement of Georgia/Friends of the Earth Georgia and the Sweden Alumni Network Georgia organized the Conference "Water Policy in Georgia" devoted to the World Water Day held on March 22, 2019 in Tbilisi under the motto #LeavingNoOneBehind. The conference considered and discussed the following issues: - New water law of Georgia; - Regulation Impact Assessment; - Climate Change Impact on Water Resources of Georgia; - Basin Plan Development within the EUWI+ project; - Hydro-energy Strategy; - Land reclamation & Irrigation Systems of Georgia; - Tariff policy in Water Supply. Participants communicated with Ms. Maria Stherstrom Lantz (Water Innovation in Stockholm) by video- conference. CWP-Georgia Chairman Georgi Dzamukashvili made a presentation “Global Water Partnerships in Georgia”. 6. Conference “Closer to People – Stronger Civil Society” Date: 29 March 2019 Place: Tbilisi, Georgia Organizers: The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Georgian National Platform and the Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative under support of the Government of Georgia Participants: Prime Minister of Georgia, ministers, NGOs (incl. CWP-Georgia), international organizations, diplomatic corps (Total: 200 people). According to the Prime Minister, the Modern State needs a strong Civil Society, which plays an important role in the social and economic development of the country. The conference organized parallel thematic sessions. Ms. Nino Chkhobadze (CWP- Georgia) at the session “Energy, Environment and Climate” made a presentation “Water resources and their effective use”. 7. Two meetings on waste management Date: 3,5 March 2019 Place: Tbilisi, Georgia Organizers: CWP-Georgia, the Greens Movement of Georgia/Friends of the Earth Georgia Participants: NGOs, business community (Total: 25 people).
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